Small Alley – Poetry from Vietnam
Nguyen Dac Lap, an eminent poet from the land of Blue Dragon shares his poems

Small alley by the roadside; unexpected sight have met; can be the turn of life.
Small alley
Small alley by the roadside
Unexpected sight have met
Can be the turn of life
When was young.
Met someone carrying sand to climb to Yen Tu
Understood about the ephemeral life
Embraced the clouds, climbed the wind step by step
Built steps into nothingness!
Here there are only love and cool air
Quietly dragonflies fly over the water surface
Butterfly finds a place to rest on the fresh grass
Love needs quiescence for kisses.
Other side of the lake
The eternal peace of the graves
The resting place of people who were once on the earth
The lake surface rippling
Outside
Way of life
Rushing backwards and down.
Why called a market?
No one sell or buy
Only see people with people
Find each other in the white cloud
Then it’s like the cloud
Love flies over the head top
Thought it was the standing cloud
Raise hands and get nothing…
Lucifer, Daystar
There is Lucifer but no Daystar
Oh, Cross-star looking for someone in the sky
(Folk)
Stars are all shining
Flying to the sky…all are great and far away
Just because cannot find each other on earth
Then turn out to great stars remembering and loving about…
When trust is lost
They lost each other forever
Desperately to find among the galaxy!
______________________
Yen Tu – A mountain in Vietnam
Sapa – A market